News 

New figures show that the USA, with 33.9 million lines, has the most connections, but China is closing fast, connecting over 6.6 million lines in the second half of 2004 alone.

As broadband expands so DSL lines gradually take a greater share. In the US, where cable once dominated, DSL grew by 20 per cent while cable expanded 13.8 per cent. DSL now accounts for 62 per cent of the world market.

One area where cable is proving strong is Asia-Pacific, where there is strong growth in FTTx 'fibre-to-the-building' technology.

In Europe, the rate of take up continues to grow (see yesterdays news that BT is expecting to announce its five millionth connection this week), with the greatest concentrations in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland, with 16 lines per 100 people.

However the most impressive European growth rates are further east, 155 per cent in Turkey and 122 per cent in Poland.